arrondissement

district, arrondissement

noun ah-rohn-dees-MAHN Rare

Origin: French arrondir (to round off, to make into a district)

Usage Note

Arrondissement is both a subdivision of Paris (20 in total, numbered 1–20 in a spiral) and the administrative unit below a département in French regional government. Parisians routinely say 'J'habite dans le seizième' ('I live in the 16th'). The word is used untranslated in English texts about France.

Examples

"Ils habitent dans le cinquième arrondissement de Paris."

Natural Translation

They live in the fifth arrondissement of Paris.

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